


spin the stars

by misleko



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - College/University, Childhood Friends, Drinking, Established Relationship, Fluff, Lacrosse Team, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24859177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misleko/pseuds/misleko
Summary: Donghyuck and Mark lead busy lives, but Fate makes sure they see each other plenty.(5 times Donghyuck unexpectedly runs into Mark + 1 time they meet on purpose)
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 45
Kudos: 293





	spin the stars

**Author's Note:**

> this is what I originally meant to post in June instead of the lumarkren. It was more of a challenge to write than I'd anticipated, but here we are...finally ! special thanks to [rae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/c_onstellations) for being my emotional support beta ♡
> 
> enjoy reading~

1\. 

Sometimes, Donghyuck hates how persuasive Jaemin can be.

He’s not even completely sure, himself, how Jaemin had lured him out from his heavy pile of blankets. He’d woken up wrapped in a warm cloud, like the type that forms lightning and rolls obtrusively across the sky. A throat clears behind him. He rolls around, making sure to keep the blanket tucked under his chin, to face an impatient Jaemin.

Over his shoulder, Donghyuck absentmindedly takes in the weather outside, peeking through in flashes between the open blinds. The sky is grey, not much different from what he’s been seeing these past few months, but the pop of green from the elm trees that reach up to his window reminds him that spring is finally here. 

He’s brought back to attention with a snap of Jaemin’s fingers, an oversized T-shirt and a tight pair of gym shorts thrown into his face in the next moment. So much for going back to sleep amidst the light drizzle.

He should’ve known that when Jaemin let him beg off their weekly gym session last Thursday to recover from the hell that was his group project presentation, that something was off. It was too easy to convince him, suspiciously easy, but he’d ignored the red flags in favor of passing out in bed. He should’ve known Jaemin would simply push their workout back a few days rather than canceling it altogether.

It’s not that he hates going to the gym or having Jaemin as a workout buddy. It’s just that he was banking on doing nothing today, would’ve preferred to sleep in and eat a late brunch and maybe catch up on dramas or call somebody. Like his mom. Or Mark. Or both.

Instead, he’s munching on a granola bar that Jaemin had shoved into his hands as he ushered him out the door and into the elevator. “Wait,” he mumbles around a mouthful of peanut butter and chocolate chips, “I forgot to bring a water—”

Jaemin pulls a water bottle out of his duffel bag and shoves it through the big pocket in Donghyuck’s sweatshirt without missing a beat. “Please, as if I don’t know you by now,” he scoffs as the elevator opens onto the ground floor.

They walk on the rug as they make their way to the entrance, avoiding the muddy footprints on the lobby tile from earlier risers. Jaemin adjusts his crosse in his bag so as not to poke him in the side as they step out into the cool spring morning. “Are you coming to practice with me later?”

Donghyuck glances over at him, then down to his own bare legs, and back up. “Do I look like I’m dressed to sit in the grass and watch you guys run up and down a field for an hour?”

His sarcastic tone doesn’t even faze Jaemin, the other too used to his antics. Jaemin simply shrugs. “Just thought I’d ask since I already got you out of bed for the day,” he pauses as they stop at the crossing, one hand reaching out to push the crosswalk button, “I know Mark misses you,” he finishes on a teasing note.

Donghyuck isn’t having it. “I know,” he says confidently. Mark had said as much when they talked on the phone two days ago. Donghyuck could almost hear the pout in his voice, then.

Jaemin speaks up again when they’re midway across the street. “You know, you say that, but you’re blushing.”

Donghyuck groans and takes off into a jog, ditching Jaemin to walk to the recreation facilities by himself. He dodges streetlamps and pedestrians, leaving Jaemin cackling behind him. 

As soon as he swipes his ID card in at the front desk, Donghyuck eyes the smoothie bar located right across from the turnstile entrance. It’s the start of April, and that means a new flavor of the month.

The promotional banner shows an orange jumping over the sun hand-in-hand with a pineapple, whatever that means. It’s called Sunrise Surprise, and the line of people by the cash register makes Donghyuck consider finding out what the surprise is.

Jaemin pulls him away by the arm before he can amble over, towards the locker rooms in the other direction. “Workout first, Hyuck.” Donghyuck wonders if he should be offended by his patronising tone, or just let it go.

He snatches his arm back. “I know,” he grumbles. He’ll force Jaemin to buy him a smoothie later, he thinks decidedly, shoving his sweatshirt into Jaemin’s locker.

“I’ll be on the track,” Jaemin tells him with a clap to his shoulder, “come meet up with me later.” 

Donghyuck only nods from his position on the locker room bench, too focused on connecting his airpods to his phone. It smells in here, a mixture of sweat and cheap cologne. Wrinkling his nose, he hurries to exit the room and make his way up to the machines on the second floor.

He sings quietly to himself on the stairs as he navigates to his music app, putting on a workout playlist that Mark had made for him a while back out of sympathy for Donghyuck’s weekly torture. _"Dude, put this on and I swear, the time will fly by so fast. I put my favorite hype songs on there."_ Mark’s expression had been so earnest, eyes crinkling with excitement, that Donghyuck had resisted the initial urge to tease him and instead allowed his face to bloom in a pleased smile. 

_“Thanks, Mark,”_ he’d mumbled as he scrolled through the songs, _“but don’t call me dude!”_ He remembers Mark’s loud, resounding laugh, the clap of his hands as he shook on the couch. Ever since, he’s been jamming out to the likes of Beenzino and Gorillaz every week as he worked up a sweat and sore muscles.

Donghyuck is sitting behind a machine doing leg presses when he spots him. Mark is a few rows of machines away from Donghyuck, slightly hidden behind a burly guy rhythmically pulling himself up and down to the beat of —Donghyuck pulls one earbud out to listen— the Jonas Brothers playing on the gym speakers overhead.

Mark, in a sleeveless shirt, doing lat pulldowns. The shirt clings to him nicely, giving Donghyuck a good look at his back as he continuously pulls down weights, then eases off pressure to let the handle slide slightly back up.

Donghyuck’s legs bend too quickly as he loses concentration, the heavy press rushing back into resting position. He catches himself at the last moment, pushing the press up until his legs are nearly straightened out. He curses to himself as he finishes off a set; he can’t believe he forgot that Mark likes to work out on weekend mornings.

Last semester, when they hadn’t been so busy and could see each other more often, Donghyuck had woken up many a weekend morning alone in Mark’s bed because his boyfriend had gone to the gym. They’d had a small fight about it, then, Donghyuck wanting to wake up to Mark on days that he slept over at the other’s apartment and Mark not wanting to give up his routine because the weekends were the only time he could fit in a workout between his busy schedule.

 _“Come with me,”_ Donghyuck remembers Mark saying. He’d laughed in his face, then, giving up on the fight and resigning himself to simply greeting Mark when he got back from the gym. Sometimes, he would make breakfast for them both, and sometimes he would force Mark to grab food on the way back.

It’s all funny to Donghyuck now, considering Jaemin persuaded him in the end anyhow.

After one more set, he hops off the contraption, wiping it down with a towel and grabbing his water bottle. He strides over to Mark, careful to go around other patrons and their rhythmic movements.

The cacophony of clanging machines and labored breaths keep him company as he patiently waits for Mark to finish his set before grabbing his attention, lest he get surprised and hurt himself. He takes the opportunity to whip his towel at Mark’s ass when he stands up to slowly ease the handle back to its resting position after finishing his set.

Mark yelps and twists his torso around to— “Oh, God, Hyuck. Why would you scare me like that?” He whines, leg rising over the bench to stand up straight in front of him. Donghyuck snickers. Mark's arm comes up to hang in the air, waiting for Donghyuck to step closer and fold himself into Mark’s chest in greeting.

Donghyuck simply raises his brow. “We’re both sweaty, are you sure you want to do that?”

Mark chuckles awkwardly as he realizes and begins to lower his arm, but Donghyuck quickly ducks under and presses himself to Mark before it can fully drop. “Just kidding, you’re gross all the time anyway, so I don’t care.”

Mark, whose arm had come to rest across Donghyuck’s lower back, groans as if he had been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Donghyuck smiles, pleased with himself at his little victory. 

“So what are you doing here, Duckie? Can’t say I expected to see you here today.”

“I like to keep you on your toes,” he states breezily.

Mark rolls his eyes as he finishes off the water in his tumbler, pouting when it’s empty. Donghyuck offers up his own half-full bottle but Mark grabs his hand instead to pull him towards the water fountain. “Are you done with your workout? Is Jaemin around?”

He watches as Mark bends over to gulp down a stream of water, droplets rolling down his chin when he straightens back up. He wipes them away with his hand then pushes a palm against the lever to fill up his tumbler. Donghyuck stares, eyes locked on his pretty fingers wrapped around the bottle. He hears a cough and tunes back in.

“Hm, yeah, I’m getting tired. Jaemin’s running his little heart out on the track, still, I think. I’m supposed to meet up with him,” Donghyuck informs him as they turn to cross the bridge walkway back towards the machines, before his eyes catch on something below, “but actually…”

He pulls Mark to look over the side, at the indoor rock climbing wall. “Would you be interested in a little friendly race?” They observe as a girl reaches the top with a triumphant shout, hand tugging on the rope to be lowered back down.

Mark looks over at him incredulously. “Up the wall?”

Donghyuck nods. “Let’s make it interesting, actually, how about the winner gets something,” he continues with a broad grin. Mark raises an eyebrow for him to continue, clearly intrigued but trying not to show it.

Donghyuck thinks for a second, “If I win…” he hesitates for a second, wondering if he was really bold enough to continue. Then again, this was Mark, who understood him better than anyone. So he pushes on, “if I win, then you cancel lacrosse practice one day. Not today, obviously! Just...some day soon.”

Mark’s dubious expression fades to something softer.

“And spend the day with me instead,” Donghyuck finishes quietly, eyes on his trainers. 

“Hyuck…”

Mark’s tone is wistful, and Donghyuck sags a little in relief, aware that Mark has parsed what he meant by his request, that he misses spending time together. Of course Mark got it, he knew Donghyuck inside out by now, could see behind his joking facade without even trying. 

He breaks the tension with a slight laugh. “And the winner gets to pick the next movie!” He looks up to see Mark already staring back at him readily, a distinct emotion in his eyes. He’s seen this look before, many times actually.

It’s the same as when he used to show up at Mark’s house unannounced after either of them has had a bad day. The same as when they’re in the middle of a jam session, the same as when Donghyuck had tried to surprise Mark with an anniversary dinner only to find that Mark had tried to do the same. It’s love, and they hold it in their hearts, in their eyes and their hands and their breath.

Finally, Mark smiles, a small but pretty quirk of his lips. Donghyuck’s heart pounds against his ribs as Mark gestures with a wide motion for him to lead the way downstairs to the rock wall. 

They’re halfway down the steps when Mark speaks up. “If I win, come to my practice,” he grabs at Donghyuck’s hand to interlace their fingers, “and we’ll go somewhere afterward.”

Their arms swing as they reach the ground floor. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Minutes later, they’re strapped into harnesses with hands forming calluses as they climb side by side up the fake rock wall. Donghyuck is straining to reach for a purple handhold with his left arm, muscles winding tightly, when he hears a quiet yelp and looks to his right. Mark is a bit further down, looking downwards, one leg flailing.

He tries to stifle a laugh. “You good there, babe?”

“Just peachy.”

He watches Mark struggle for a few seconds longer, and sighs. It’s no fun like this. He clambers back down a few steps and clings on tight to the holds as he leans his body out to get a good look at Mark’s position. “Hey, there’s a foothold to your right, that blue one, you’re just gonna have to stretch a bit.”

“Hyuck, if you think I’m that flexible—”

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad! Just try? If you can get some leverage there, push yourself up and grab onto that red one up there with your hand, do you see?”

Mark takes a moment to calculate a path in his head, then ultimately sighs in defeat. “You’re picking the movie.”

Donghyuck smiles sweetly as Mark begins to move. “Glad we agree. But I’ll still finish the race, just to be fair and square. See you up there, loverboy.”

And with that, he begins climbing again, Mark groaning somewhere below him.

2\. 

Donghyuck almost falls asleep in the Uber.

He can’t help it; it’s dark out due to the stark lack of streetlights the further they drive out from Main Campus. Their driver blasting the heat to combat the frigid weather outside certainly doesn’t help his predicament. Most importantly, Donghyuck has been pulling all-nighters far too often this month to work on choreography for his final showcase.

As the driver rolls over a speed bump, his head thunks against the window he’d been resting on. He hisses in pain but reassures the other car occupants that he’s fine with a tired smile when the driver awkwardly checks on him in the rearview mirror.

With a sigh, Jeno tugs him up to sit upright. “Come on, Hyuck. Look alive! It’s not even eleven yet.”

Considering he hadn’t gotten back to their apartment until three last night, and he’d had to wake up a mere four hours later, eleven was well past his bedtime. Donghyuck tries to communicate this to him with a single, scathing glare.

Jeno’s smile doesn’t falter as the car rolls to a stop by the curb. “Look, we’re here. A couple drinks, a stop at Mcdonald’s, and then we go home.”

Donghyuck ignores his outstretched hand and steps out of the car by himself, not forgetting to thank the driver before shutting the door. In front of him, Renjun’s frat house looms over them, all neon lights and noise spilling from open windows.

Donghyuck still laughs every time he comes around to visit. Renjun Huang, president of a fraternity. How far they’ve come from childhood.

They make their way up to the porch, Jeno stopping to grab a can of beer out of the shopping cart parked on the side by the porch swing. Donghyuck is not even sure where the frat procured a shopping cart but decides it’s best not to ask. He declines the can offered to him with a wrinkle of his nose. Beer was strictly a last option for him, the kind of thing he’d only drink if there was nothing else available.

The front door opens and a drunk couple stumbles out, giggling as they make their way around the side of the house. Music pours out from the opening, and Donghyuck is quick to grab Jeno’s arm and slip inside into the crowd, closing the door behind them before the neighbors get fed up.

Before they even make it past the living room, a boy slams into them in his haste to leave. Donghyuck knows him from the lacrosse team, a newbie addition this year, but can’t put a name to the face. At least he seems to hold enough of his bearings, still, to recognize them back. “Lee bros! Shit, you came too? I just saw Captain, so I’m getting the hell out of here.”

“Damn,” Jeno mutters at his side, “Mark’s here? How the hell did he find out?”

The boy shrugs. “Beats me but if you’re sticking around, warn the other guys if you see them, yeah? I couldn’t find them but I know I’m not the only one here.”

Donghyuck doesn’t know what they’re talking about but his head whips around, trying to look for any sign of Mark. Annoyingly, he can’t distinguish anyone in the huge mass of people converging in front of them. Distractedly, he listens to Jeno tell the boy, Felix, to get home safely.

Jeno turns to him abruptly after sending Felix off, grabbing onto his shoulders and yanking him around. He stares into Donghyuck’s eyes, something akin to panic swirling in his own. “Listen, I need you to do me a favor. Go distract Mark while I go ‘round and warn the boys that Captain’s here.”

Donghyuck looks back at him, unimpressed and headache growing by the second. The thumping music echoing off the walls isn’t helping. “What, are you not supposed to be here or something? Wouldn’t that make him a hypocrite?”

Jeno’s expression turns sheepish. “I’ll explain later. I owe you one, yeah?” Jeno’s already squeezing into the throng of people before Donghyuck can respond but whatever, it’s not like Donghyuck was going to say no. He would’ve gravitated towards Mark anyway.

Now alone, he grimaces as somebody drops their cup near him and liquid splashes out all over the already sticky floor. Taking several quick paces back, he casts his gaze around looking for the best path to the other side of the room.

It looks like he can make it out to the backyard if he squeezes past two couples making out against the wall on the right side of the room. That seemed to be the direction Felix had been gesturing towards. Either way, whether he found Mark or not, the kitchen was on the other side of the house and Donghyuck needed a drink.

He makes it past with minimal casualties (his foot getting stepped on twice and somebody’s warm, sweaty chest rubbing against his arm) and breathes a sigh of relief. From his new vantage point, he can see that the kitchen is empty and there are several multicolored bottles for him to choose from. Before he can move, though, he hears a familiar laugh drifting through the open backyard door. He smiles to himself. Gotcha.

Swiveling on his feet as best as he can with newly sticky soles, he exits the stifling house into a spacious yard decorated with fairy lights hanging from branches of oak trees. There’s a good number of people out here, but they’re mostly converged in a semi-circle on the far end of the yard. Some guy is in a handstand over a keg and the crowd chants him on as he chugs.

He spots Mark watching the events from a distance, engaged in conversation with someone Donghyuck recognizes vaguely from the studio where Mark interns. Some grad student in music production...what was his name again? God, Donghyuck is usually good with names but his headache is gradually worsening and he can’t be bothered to exert the mental energy.

Mark looks good, though. His hair is styled up, a tight blue sweater stretches over his shoulders, and ripped jeans accentuate his lacrosse-toned thighs. Yes, Donghyuck has definitely missed this sight.

He needs a drink, a hug from his boyfriend, and another drink. Not necessarily in that order.

He sidles up to Mark, arm coming up to wrap around his thin waist. “Fancy seeing you here.” he murmurs into his shoulder.

Mark pauses in the middle of a sentence to look over to him, surprise lacing his features. His stance softens upon recognition, muscles relaxing as he swings an arm over his shoulder.

“Hi, Duckie. Yuta, this is my boyfriend, Donghyuck. Donghyuck, Yuta. Oh, actually...have you guys met before?”

Donghyuck cranes his neck down to look at the cup in Mark’s hand resting against his chest. Almost empty. Yep, Mark was tipsy. How cute. “Yeah, I think we met at that Christmas party a few months ago?” He looks to Yuta for confirmation, which is given with a beautiful, toothy grin. 

He turns his gaze back towards Mark, bouncing his shoulder to catch his attention. “What are you doing here? I didn’t realize you’d be showing up tonight.” If he’d known, maybe he wouldn’t have resisted Jeno’s pleads for as long.

“Well, I scheduled team body conditioning for tonight and almost everyone ditched me. Thought they’d be here, so I came to look for them.”

“And did you find them?”

Mark nods towards the boy on the keg. “There’s my goalie.” He comments dryly.

Donghyuck has to stop his lips from twitching into a smile, even more so when he turns his head and catches Jeno’s eye, the other boy standing at the edge of the crowd inside the house. Some of his teammates surround his side, and they’re all holding one finger up to their mouths. Don’t rat us out, their eyes plead. Most of them already look wasted. Donghyuck nods grudgingly and turns back to Mark.

“You should forget about your boys for tonight, there’s nothing you can do to them right now anyway. Come on, what’s our drink of choice tonight?”

Mark looks down into his cup absentmindedly. “Well, Sicheng made some jungle juice...” 

Donghyuck immediately winces at that. The last time Sicheng was put in charge of making the jungle juice, he nearly had to be carried home. It’s the devil’s beverage, Donghyuck firmly stands by that opinion now.

Mark laughs upon seeing his disturbed face. “No? Just kidding, I know that’s not your thing. Follow me then,” and with a fistbump farewell to Yuta, Mark leads Donghyuck by the waist back towards the house. The lacrosse team has dispersed by now, and Donghyuck hopes their hangovers aren’t too bad tomorrow. Mark was not going to go easy on them for ditching, he knew that much already.

A couple people are milling about in the kitchen now, but Mark pays them no mind as he clears a spot on the counter for Donghyuck to hop onto. The countertop is a bit sticky but he can’t find it in himself to get upset when Mark fixes him a rum and coke in a red solo cup then whisks around the kitchen looking for shot glasses. 

A quick peek into a cabinet produces two, one tall cylindrical thing with “JENNIFER + AARON SEPTEMBER 15, 2008” inscribed inside a heart and another shorter glass with a wide rim and a Ryan Bear etched onto the side. Mark holds them up for Donghyuck to judge.

Donghyuck makes grabby hands at the Ryan Bear, eliciting a laugh from Mark. “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo,” his finger points in turn at an array of colored bottles on the counter next to him. The chant stops on vodka. He twists the cap off and pours a generous shot for them both.

“Shall we cheers?” He holds his shot glass out towards Mark, who clinks it lightly with his own. They both ignore the drops of liquid that spill out slightly over their fingers.

“To...seeing my cute boyfriend for the first time in almost two weeks.” Mark’s eyes shine brighter than all the decorative lights in the house; it makes Donghyuck feel like he’s melting.

His lips twitch at the corners. “To Jennifer and Aaron!” he lets out quickly in one breath and hides his laughter by downing the shot.

Mark whines in mock annoyance but still leans forward to rest his forehead on Donghyuck’s shoulder after swallowing his own shot. “Do you think they’re still together? Jennifer and Aaron?” He mumbles into Donghyuck’s shirt.

It takes longer than Donghyuck would like to admit to figure out the math. “After 12 years? It’s definitely possible.” He’s known Mark for about that long already, and could still see them together in another twelve years. He lets one hand wrap around one of Mark’s, and uses his other to clumsily uncap the vodka bottle and pour them both another shot.

Mark simply watches him, eyes soft and wide, thumb rubbing over the back of Donghyuck’s hand in one of those quiet displays of affection he was prone to doling out when he had a little liquor in him. Once they’re each holding a shot again, Donghyuck proposes a new cheer.

“To Mark and Donghyuck.”

Mark lights up in agreement, head tilting down to leave a fond peck on Donghyuck’s lips before responding with his own cheer.

“To Donghyuck and Mark.”

3.

Donghyuck is standing in front of the refrigerators at the back of the store, debating between Gatorade and Arizona tea, when he feels arms encircle his waist from behind. He startles, letting out a squeak and losing his grip on the bag of chips he was clutching.

A hand shoots out to grab it before it could hit the ground.

“What’s up, baby?” rumbles the person behind him, straight up Donghyuck’s spine.

His temples throb again on cue like they had been all morning. He digs a reprimanding elbow into Mark’s stomach and groans, head falling back onto the other’s shoulder.

“What are you doing here?” This 7-11 was right down the street from Donghyuck’s dorm, but definitely out of the way for Mark, who lived several blocks away in a different neighborhood.

Mark simply shrugs, Donghyuck’s head bobbing up along with it. “Got off the bus a few stops early because Jungwoo wanted a slushie.”

Donghyuck doesn’t even turn his head towards the slushie machine to look. If he focuses past his headache, he can hear a familiar voice, some feet away, pleading to someone for a free drink size upgrade. He feels bad for the poor store manager that has to deal with Jungwoo’s puppy dog eyes first thing in the morning. A weaker man would’ve caved by now.

Another pang of pain occurs, like the beat of a drum against his brain. Fuck. His eyes inadvertently scrunch shut and he straightens back up to look at the fridges once more, ready to make a decision and get the hell out of here. His classes aren’t for another half hour, but he doesn’t know when the bus is coming next and he’s not about to walk all the way to campus.

Mark’s body shifts behind him, and his voice drifts lowly into Donghyuck’s ear. “Do you have a hangover, Duckie?” Donghyuck grunts. Obviously. Mark chuckles, hand coming up to run through Donghyuck’s hair. “Let me make it up to you, I’m sorry, I feel like I contributed to that.”

Again, obviously. Mark was just spitting out facts today, huh.

He reaches out to open the fridge door, handle delightfully cool against his overheated fingers, and grabs a red Gatorade from the bottom shelf. He turns to Mark as the door shuts again with a soft slam.

His words die in his mouth as he takes the sight in clearly. Mark’s style today is much different from last night; he’s wearing so many patterns that it assaults Donghyuck’s eyes immediately. Is that a plaid flannel on top of a graphic tee over some ombre board shorts? Jesus.

“What are you wearing?”

Mark jerks his head down to look at himself then meets Donghyuck’s eyes again. “Um, comfy clothes?”

Oh, this boy and his lack of fashion sense. The mismatch is truly horrendous. He honestly should be used to it by now, having known Mark for so many years. And yet, he still manages to be surprised by the combinations that come from Mark’s closet daily. 

He closes his eyes and brings his clasped hands up to his face, two fingers still pinching the bag of chips.

“What are you doing?”

“Praying to God to bring your outfit from last night back.”

Mark rolls his eyes and turns to examine the ready-made sandwiches on the shelves behind him. Donghyuck eyes the pink that slowly creeps up his neck from under his flannel collar with a triumphant smile, the pretty sight almost distracting him from Mark’s mumbling.

“Sorry, what was that, loverboy?”

The pink spreads further, reaching his ears. Mark’s hand comes up to rub at the edge of one. “Honestly, Taeyong helped me with my clothes last night.” comes the sheepish reply.

Ah, Taeyong. Donghyuck could kiss his boyfriend’s roommate for coming to aid in Mark’s fashion crisis. Well, a kiss to the boyfriend himself will do, he thinks.

Donghyuck grabs at the hand still pulling at his own ear and uses his grip to spin Mark around. He looks ridiculously endearing in the fluorescent lighting, hair sticking up a bit and beautiful, bright eyes blinking at him from behind round glasses. 

He leans forward to meet Mark’s face and they stand there for several moments, in the back of the store, lips on lips and everything else forgotten.

A loud slurp breaks them apart with a small gasp. Jungwoo stands at the end of the aisle with a raised eyebrow and a straw in his mouth. He slurps again, blue slush rising up his straw into his mouth.

Mark lets go of Donghyuck’s waist (when did his hands get there?) with an awkward laugh. 

Donghyuck simply sighs. “Good morning to you too, Jungwoo.”

Jungwoo simply hums and turns away with a smile, but Donghyuck can feel the smug judgement rolling off him in waves. It’s not that he really cares what Donghyuck and Mark get up to in the cramped aisle of a 7-11, but he’ll find it awfully fun to bring up at any given point during their next get-together. Donghyuck knows that much about him.

Oh well, it’s not like he cares. He’s usually right there alongside Jungwoo, teasing Mark for something or other.

He glances over at Mark, already expecting to see the red ears and elbows coming up to cover his face in embarrassment. It’s very cute, how Mark’s shy tendencies tend to come and go, an eternal internal dance with his normally bold personality. It seems that teasing Mark has the unexpected side effect of calming his headache a little as well. Maybe this was turning out to be a good morning after all.

Feeling a small smile work its way up his face, Donghyuck turns to follow Jungwoo through the store, up to the cash register. He hears Mark falling into step behind him after a moment, but does not turn back to look at him. He doesn’t need to. Where Donghyuck goes, Mark follows, that’s how it’s always been.

Donghyuck pauses in line at the end of the checkout counter, next to the glass display of revolving sausages and two-dollar pizza slices. Jungwoo seems to be taking his sweet time buying a lottery ticket. He carefully peers over a line-up of colorful scratch-off cards, slushy straw still between his lips.

Donghyuck taps his foot in mock annoyance when Jungwoo starts letting out elongated contemplative noises, probably just to bother him. Behind him, Mark stifles a laugh.

Finally, Jungwoo raises a finger to point at a game card, a cheap one decorated with cherries. He turns to Donghyuck with an angelic expression on his face as the cashier rings it up.

“Say, you wouldn’t happen to have a coin on you, would ya, Hyuckie?”

Nevermind, this was a bad morning— starring none other than Jungwoo Kim. Donghyuck is so close to stealing the slushy right out of his hands when Mark really bursts into giggles, amused enough at the banter for the both of them.

Mark steps closer to Donghyuck, a hand coming up to squeeze at his shoulder. “I’ll give you my change, bro, meet you outside.”

Jungwoo accepts his items from the cashier and gives Mark a two-finger salute. “Thank you for your service. See ya around, Hyuckie!”

Donghyuck waves an impatient hand at him, focus held on the digital screen displaying his total. He’s pulling out his wallet to grab his debit card when Mark stops him with a hand on his wrist, his other hand pushing his items forward on the counter.

“Can you ring these up too with that? And I’ll pay with cash, thanks.”

Donghyuck starts to protest but he doesn’t get beyond a whine of Mark’s name before an arm is wrapping around his shoulder to pull him closer.

“Consider this part of me making it up to you,” Mark’s lips brush against his ear. Donghyuck feels his face heating up. Mark pulls away to slide a crisp twenty-dollar bill towards the cashier.

Donghyuck gathers their bags without looking at either person, cheeks probably a bright red. He murmurs thanks—to Mark or to the cashier, he doesn’t know— and makes his way out the door.  
The automated bell overhead dings as he leaves, stepping out from artificial light into a sunny city morning, and it dings again a few seconds later as Mark exits too.

Mark flips a quarter off his index finger and Jungwoo snatches it out of the air, bringing it to rub against the scratch-off card.

He then takes his bag from Donghyuck, rummaging through to bring out a sandwich. Mark offers it to him. “Here, you shouldn’t only be having Gatorade and chips for breakfast.”

Donghyuck makes an affronted noise in his throat. “What the hell, no, you should save that to eat before practice or something! I’m fine, I promise.” Mark gives him a mildly exasperated look. Donghyuck returns it with a stubborn glint in his eyes.

“Hey, isn’t that your bus?” Jungwoo interrupts, pointing down the street with his quarter.

Donghyuck breaks away from his impromptu staring contest with Mark at Jungwoo’s words, looking just in time to see the number 17 bus making its way up the street. He curses as his eyes flicker towards the crosswalk pole, and of course, the pedestrian right of way was ending in five seconds. Shit.

He sprints off without looking back, backpack bouncing against his spine and shopping bag slapping against his side. He calls out a loud, “Bye, guys! I’ll catch you later!” over his shoulder.

Mark hollers back, “Have a good day in class, Duckie! Don’t forget to eat!”

It’s only as he’s catching his breath, the bus pulling up to the curb, that he realizes Mark had shoved the sandwich into his hand right before he took off. He smiles to himself, helpless, and so, so fond.

4.

Two minutes past noon, Mark strolls into their campus’ Asian Resource and Cultural Center.

Donghyuck is making tea by the hot water dispenser when he hears an unmistakable voice greeting the staff, a warm chuckle when he’s asked to check in.

“You all know me, though,” Mark whines playfully as he hands his school ID over to Taeil behind the desk.

Taeil rolls his eyes back, “it’s protocol.”

Since Mark hasn’t noticed him yet, Donghyuck takes the time to check him out as he waits for his tea to soak. Mark looks comfy, dressed in a navy blue windbreaker and track pants, hands resting in his pockets as he waits for Taeil to input his information into the computer. He doesn’t look rushed or stressed at all.

He calls out across the room, “Aren’t you meant to be in class right now, hotshot?”

Mark’s head whips up, eyes meeting his with a slight grimace. Busted. Mark chances a glance down at his watch and his eyebrows furrow as he looks back at Donghyuck.

“Aren’t you meant to be in class, too?”

An awkward silence settles over them until Taeil clears his throat and hands Mark his ID back. “Morally, I cannot support either of you skipping class, but since it’s none of my business, I’ll just look away and say...if either of you needs to talk, Doyoung’s in his office.” 

Yeah, Associate Director Doyoung would probably have a lot to say about them hiding out in here. Donghyuck thinks he’s good with missing that lecture for now.

He acknowledges Taeil’s concern with a nod, waving Mark towards his table and clearing a spot for him. His books end up stacked in a pile at the corner, any notion of getting work done dissipating when Mark drops down into the chair next to him.

“Tea?”

“Yes, please.”

He hands Mark the one he’s already made for himself and sets off to make another. “So what’s up,” he asks casually, with his back still turned, “it’s not like you to skip class.”

Mark drums his fingers on the tabletop and hums for a long moment. He waits until Donghyuck is sitting back down to answer. “I have a lab report due today in class and I didn’t manage to finish it in time. Got too anxious to show up without it.”

Ah, the curse of the perfectionist. Donghyuck is very used to Mark’s high standards for himself, and how he gets when he doesn’t manage to meet them.

He nods sympathetically, one foot moving under the table to wrap around Mark’s ankle in comfort. Words weren’t really needed, Mark knew he understood. Still, he offers a small piece of reassurance. “It’s okay. Email your professor and I’m sure they’ll understand.”

Mark nods and brings the steaming hot tea up to his mouth to blow on it. “So, what about you? Why are you here?” He asks over the rim of his paper cup.

Donghyuck runs a hand through his hair and breathes in, breathes out. “Just took a bad exam. It’s worth a good amount of my grade too. So I just...needed to sit for a while and not think.”

Mark’s fingers stop drumming on the surface and he instead holds it out over the table for Donghyuck to grab onto. Donghyuck grasps it immediately, finding comfort in running his fingers over Mark’s calloused palm.

“Yeah, so for now, I’m hiding away here until I feel better or Jaehyun kicks me out, whichever comes first.” Jaehyun looks up from his computer behind the staff desk at the sound of his name, staring suspiciously in Donghyuck’s direction before deciding it wasn’t worth it and going back to his work.

Mark lets out a loud sigh and slowly leans forward on the table until he can rest his head against his arm. “I should be finishing this report but I only got about an hour of sleep last night.” 

Donghyuck reaches over to run his fingers through Mark’s light brown hair. He bends down until his head is also pillowed on his arms, matching Mark’s eye level. “Rest. Just for twenty minutes, it’s fine, I’ll wake you up.”

It really would be fine. The center was quiet except for the staff tapping away at their keyboards on the other side of the room, and the gentle whir of Donghyuck’s laptop fan. A light snore resounds from the back corner to Donghyuck’s right. Oh, and Chenle slumbering away on the couch, the only other student in the room beside him and Mark.

“If Chenle can do it, so can you,” he whispers.

Mark smothers a laugh into his skin and adjusts his position. “Twenty minutes,” he mumbles, bringing over one of Donghyuck’s books to prop up his arms for a more comfortable position.

“Twenty minutes,” Donghyuck agrees, opening up his laptop to load up PUBG. A moment later, a much louder snore comes from the couch.

Mark’s eyebrows furrow, head about to raise again when Donghyuck gently pushes it back down and digs out his airpods case from his bag. He places one in Mark’s ear, the other in his own, and puts on a classical music playlist as he starts matching up for a team.

A while later, he’s humming along to Saint-Saëns when Doyoung comes out of his office, looks over at the students, and sighs. “You know, this isn’t what the resource and cultural center was meant for.” 

Donghyuck looks up from his game for only a split second, the sound of in-game footsteps bringing his focus back to the screen. “What do you mean? I’d say all of us are taking great advantage of the resources here, mainly the available space to sit in peace and quiet without being annoyed by the rest of the student body.”

“You _are_ the annoying student body,” Doyoung mumbles with no malice, “can you guys at least pretend to study?”

Donghyuck gestures towards Mark, whose head is resting on top of Donghyuck’s Anthropology textbook. “He’s learning through osmosis right now, don’t interrupt his process.” 

Doyoung abruptly turns towards the desk staff, hand coming up to pinch his nose bridge. “Please make sure they all go to their next class.” He sounds like he’s just about ready to give up on everything. With one last defeated look towards Donghyuck’s innocent expression, he grabs a Hi-Chew from the candy bowl and makes his way back inside his office.

When Donghyuck’s team ends up in second place, he sighs and stretches over his laptop to gently shake Mark awake.

It takes a few seconds for Mark to blink away his sleepiness. He seems to have momentarily forgotten where he is, judging by the way he looks around the room in confusion. “—Time’s it?” he asks, lifting up his paper cup to down the rest of the cold tea.

Donghyuck glances down at the bottom of his computer screen, “Your next class is at 1:30, right? You’ve still got about forty-five minutes.”

Mark stretches out his muscles by bending over the back of the chair, arms rising into the air. The earbud falls out of his ear and he jerks, reflex kicking in and hand swiping in the air to grab it before it falls. He places it back on the table by Donghyuck with a small thanks for letting him borrow it.

Donghyuck nods absentmindedly, watching as Mark sighs heavily and pulls a thick workbook out of his backpack. When he flips to the correct page, Donghyuck winces at how only half the report is filled out. Poor Mark, he must be so overworked.

He discreetly pulls out his phone as Mark steals a pencil from Donghyuck’s pouch and starts writing, the scratch of the lead adding to the white noise in the room.

_HEY,_ he sends to his group chat with Jeno and Jaemin, _y’all think you can run practice without O’ Captain My Captain today? he could really use the rest._

He gets a response a few minutes later. _of course!!! we got this. get well soon mark ୧ʕ•̀ᴥ•́ʔ୨_

Jeno adds in, _yeah, no problem! tell captain that if he shows up on the field today, he’s getting kicked off the team._ Donghyuck sends a red heart back and shuts his phone.

“So, tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum say they’re running practice today and that you’re getting kicked off the team if you show up.”

“What is this, a coup?” Mark doesn’t even look up from his homework, not at all surprised that Donghyuck took matters into his own hands and enlisted their friends to help him execute it.

Jaehyun passes by them as Donghyuck confirms, dropping into a squat by the couch. A few seconds later, Chenle is screaming, scrambling off the couch, away from the blaring alarm Jaehyun had set off right by his ear.

Donghyuck and Mark watch with wide eyes as Chenle catches his breath, hand on his heart from the shock.

Jaehyun stands up with a grin. “This has been your scheduled wake-up call, courtesy of the center staff. We hope you’ve enjoyed your stay and please come again soon. Now, get to class.”

Chenle moans in annoyance, obviously not having expected the rude awakening. “I’ll get you for that one,” he grumpily calls after a snickering Jaehyun walking back behind the desk.

Taeil looks apologetic enough, calling for Chenle to come over and grab some candy before he leaves.

Mark turns back to Donghyuck after Chenle scoops his bag up from the ground and trudges out the door. “Thanks for not waking me up like that,” he whispers. Donghyuck could only nod earnestly in reply.

Jaehyun’s voice carries across the room as he calls out to them, “Don’t think I won’t do the same to you guys, awake or not, if you don’t get to class.”

Clearing his throat, Donghyuck stands up abruptly. “Come on, babe, I’ll walk you to class.”

Mark is already packing his bag, “Yup, let’s go.”

They scurry out the door hand in hand, but not before grabbing a handful of candy each as emotional reparations. They leave the staff members laughing lightly after them, amused by their cute underclassmen.

5.

Another day, another grueling study session at the library. Renjun had left him about an hour ago, too hungry to pretend to be productive any longer. He said that he might be back after dinner, but Donghyuck isn’t going to put his hope into that statement. More than likely, Renjun would get wrapped up in something with his frat and decide that putting his shoes back on and venturing outside again was not worth the effort.

Donghyuck takes a break from typing and resists the urge to bang his head on the table when he realizes that the last two sentences he’d written were basically a reiteration of something in the last paragraph. He deletes the offending excerpt with a prolonged jab of the backspace key and a sinking feeling of despair settling deeper in his guts.

His wired headphones accidentally rip out of his ears as he twists around to rummage for a water bottle in his backpack hanging off the chair. The sounds of Chopin fall away to allow the library din to rush in.

Three tables away, a group discussion slowly gets more and more heated, voices overlapping each other. Hands inch towards open bags of Cheetos as if they were about to become projectile objects. Donghyuck wishes he were anywhere else right now.

Behind him, somebody speaks up. “Is this seat taken?” 

He whips around to face— oh, it’s Mark. It’s Mark looking particularly cute in a hoodie that Donghyuck swears used to be his. “Is that my hoodie?” spills out of his mouth before he can process everything. Wait. “Oh, wait, what? What are you doing here, you never come to the library!”

Mark makes a face of disdain at their surroundings and plops down into the seat next to Donghyuck, letting his bag drop carelessly to the floor and swinging one arm over the back of the chair. He looks more relaxed than he normally seems, somewhat carefree, and just a little flushed. He must’ve just come from practice.

Adrenaline does a big number on a boy like Mark Lee, who takes on many responsibilities and isn’t keen on letting any of them go. It’s just how his personality is, and Donghyuck loves him for it, but he was among those that were most relieved when Mark joined the lacrosse team in high school and found an outlet for his excess stress.

“I’m meeting up with some classmates for a group project. Saw you first, wanted to say hi. It’s been a bit since I saw you.” Approximately a week, give or take. They’d gone grocery shopping for their individual apartments together.

How sad was that, to be so busy that the only time he could see his boyfriend is when they’re running errands. Still, it was worth it for the adorable sight of Mark tapping on watermelons, trying to pick out the best one.

Mark takes a few seconds to sweep his eyes across the room, gaze settling on the rambunctious group Donghyuck had noticed earlier. “There they are.” The group seemed to have settled down from when Donghyuck last looked over, although there’s definitely a scattering of Cheetos on the floor that wasn’t there earlier.

“Them? Really?” He can’t quite keep the judgement out of his tone. If he didn’t have his headphones with him today, he probably would’ve tried to confront them by now. Luckily, he’d found them deep in his backpack when his airpods died on him during lunch.

Mark winces. “It was assigned partners,” he admits. “Okay, I’ll leave you to work on—,” a quick pan from his computer screen down to his notebook, “ritualistic sacrifices in the 16th century?”

Donghyuck beams. “Whoever said history wasn’t interesting?”

Mark blinks at him with wide eyes and Donghyuck can almost see his mind whirring, deciding whether or not to pursue this topic of conversation. In the end, Mark stands up and places a kiss on his forehead, walking away with a simple, “Good luck!”

Donghyuck watches him for a bit, sees how his groupmates immediately welcome him with eager looks, how Mark points at the mess on the floor with a delicate finger, prompting them into action. Mark crouches down on the floor with them to help pick up the crumbs, and Donghyuck turns back to his screen with a smile. He loves his boy so much.

Another hour passes and his fingers are flying across his keyboard. He only has another five hundred words to go and he can almost taste the end. Someone appears in his peripheral vision and sets something down on the table next to his notes. It’s a coffee cup, but the hand attached to it isn’t Mark.

“Hey, medium vanilla chai latte? Mark told me to get this for you.” Oh, it’s one of Mark’s groupmates, one of the rowdy boys from earlier. He’s holding two carryout drink trays in his hand, one holder empty.

Donghyuck takes it from him with little finesse and many thanks, hands a little cramped from all the work he’s been doing. He looks over to Mark to mouth a silent thank you to him too, but he’s hunched over his partner’s laptop, pointing out something on her screen with a pen.

Donghyuck turns back to the boy. “Tell him that I appreciate it for me, please.”

The boy nods and takes his leave, making his way through the maze of chairs and bookbags, trying not to lose his grip on the two trays in his hand. Donghyuck smiles to himself as he takes the lid off his drink, letting the scent of masala and vanilla wash over his senses. His sore hands wrap around the warm cup, and he allows his brain a moment to rest, glazed eyes roaming down his screen. There was a lot of editing to be done, but he could save that for another day.

He downs a big mouthful of the drink, tea almost scalding his throat. He chances another look in Mark’s direction and makes direct eye contact with him. Mark winks over at him and Donghyuck almost spits out his drink.

Mark doesn’t often engage in flirtatious actions, especially in public. It’s not as rare as it used to be, years of knowing and loving Donghyuck will change a man like that, but it still catches him off guard.

After Donghyuck is done wiping his mouth with a tissue, Mark’s already turned back to his work. Oh, Donghyuck will get him back later for that. He determinedly sets his drink back down on the table, tuning his mind back into his essay. The last few hundred words start to form in his head and he settles his fingers back on his laptop.

By the time he reaches the home stretch, only the conclusion left to write, he’s completely blocked out everything going on around him. The soft music playing through his headphones might as well be silent with how zoned in he is to wring out the final words. His fingers fly over the keys with a tinge of desperation.

Still, it’s impossible to drown out the loud screech of a chair moving back over tile. It seems like half the room turns to look over at the disturbance, Donghyuck included. It’s another one of Mark’s groupmates, of course.

He can see Mark ducking his head down, trying not to laugh as he packs up his bag. Oh, they must be done for the night. Absentmindedly, he wonders if Mark would mind waiting for him as he finishes up. He dismisses the thought of asking in the next second. Mark came to the library right after practice, he must be itching for a shower and sleep right now.

He keeps a portion of his focus on Mark as the group starts to make their way out of the library. He seems to be coming towards him...but passes by his table just as quickly, with a small squeeze of his shoulder and a placement of something on the table.

Donghyuck peeks at it. It’s a small origami frog settled atop a post-it note. Donghyuck wonders when Mark had the time to make this, but he abandons that trail of thought as well. Never let anyone state that Mark Lee is not a great multitasker.

The note is cute, a tiny doodle of a sun in the corner, and some words of encouragement. In Mark’s curly handwriting, it also asks him to come over to Mark’s apartment later for a late dinner and—

Donghyuck turns back to his laptop one last time with renewed energy.

+1.

Donghyuck hears him before he sees him, the crush of bike tires on gravel, spokes of the wheels whirring loudly in the dead of night. He smiles to himself, an unabashedly large grin taking over his face. He ignores the shingles of the roof digging into his back and crosses his arms under his head, lying in patient wait.

It would take Mark approximately two minutes to ditch his bike on the ground and climb up the large oak tree with the branches that stretched over Donghyuck’s roof, he knows this from experience.

A gust of wind floats lightly past, rustling his already unkempt hair. A foot lands heavily on the roof to Donghyuck’s right. “Move a little lighter, would you?” he immediately hisses out. “You’ll wake up my whole family stomping around like that.”

Mark freezes in his steps and slowly crouches down, landing softly on his butt and scooching down to slide in next to Donghyuck, bodies laying flat on the slanted angle. “Making an awful lot of demands for someone who begged me to come over, baby.”

Donghyuck sits up halfway, leaning his weight on his elbow as he takes Mark in through the small beacon of dim light shining through his bedroom window. Sickly sweet words are ready to drip from his tongue in a show of pretend indignance but he reels himself back in when he gets a proper look at his boyfriend. “I see you’ve brought what I asked for.”

Mark rolls his eyes at the obvious aborted action, all too used to Donghyuck’s dramatics. His upper body quickly rises off the surface to shuck off his hoodie, leaving him in a thin white t-shirt. He tosses the discarded clothing in Donghyuck’s lap and yanks at the blanket settled over his legs in return. “Gimme some of this, then, if you’re gonna steal my source of warmth.” 

Donghyuck barely restrains a snort. It’s the middle of May, even the nights have given up on trying to retain the chill of winter. Nevertheless, he lets Mark pull the edges of the blanket out from under his legs as he shimmies into his sweatshirt with a happy hum.

Mark takes his time arranging the blanket around them, pulling at the fabric to cover both of them adequately. The tiny fuss makes Donghyuck still, staring down at him in something he could only describe as utter adoration. Mark catches his gaze when he brings a corner of the blanket up to wrap around Donghyuck’s shoulder.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Donghyuck simply shakes his head. “I just missed you, that’s all.”

“We just talked not even two hours ago, Duckie.” Damn. So much for sappy moments. Donghyuck plops back down right into Mark’s arms with a heavy sigh, mood broken.

“S’ different. I can’t cuddle you over the phone.”

Mark sneaks an arm under Donghyuck’s back, curling it around his waist to pull him to lay half on top of his own chest. He lightly pinches Donghyuck’s hip once they’re both comfortably settled. “Needy baby.”

“And what about it?” he challenges. Mark laughs it off without giving an answer. An answer isn’t needed. He’s happy to be there and they both know it.

They lie there for a bit, wrapped in each other and mouths unmoving but it’s anything but silent. Donghyuck can easily hear the beat of Mark’s heart, steady and thrumming against the chest he has his head pressed against. Crickets chirp and gusts of wind trickle through trees. It’s comfortable and more importantly, it’s so familiar.

It brings him back to their childhood, when Mark’s limbs could barely make the stretch from tree to roof and they would huddle closer to the window by the light because they psyched themselves out about what could be out there in the dark. This time of the night is theirs, this space moulded out for them.

It’s been a long time since they’ve met here and spent a summer night together like this. Getting through the semester was tough but they’re back home now, in their element.

He doesn’t know exactly when they fell asleep, but he remembers a hand running along his jaw. It must be more morning than night by now, having filled the time with easy conversation. An arm tightens around his waist as he drifts off. He feels surrounded by warmth.

—

Someone shakes him awake. It’s not Mark.

“Hyuck, what did I tell you about falling asleep on the roof? You’re gonna fall off one day!”

Donghyuck opens one eye to peer up at Jeno hovering above him, then promptly closes it again. Maybe if he acts quick enough, he can fall back into slumber before the last vestiges of his dream leaves him. What was it again?

Pain blooms through his shoulder in the next moment. “Dude, seriously, get up. You’ve got half an hour before Ma leaves for work and sees Mark’s bike in the yard.”

Mark groans and burrows his head further into the crook of Donghyuck’s neck. Somehow, they’d switched positions in the middle of the night.

He absentmindedly reaches a hand up to card through Mark’s hair as he contemplates Jeno’s words, eyes still closed but sleepy daze completely gone.

“I can’t believe the effort you make me exert on you, Donghyuck Lee,” Jeno hisses. “If you won’t get up at the threat of Ma, at least get up before Johnny comes out to get his paper and sees you. You know that he’ll air out your whole business in front of everybody at the next block party.”

Donghyuck reaches a hand out to feel around for Jeno’s shoulder to shove. “Okay, killjoy, I get it. I’m awake, I get it. Get to swim before your coach makes you run laps.”

Jeno leaves with a nod of his head towards Mark, still slumbering away peacefully. “Tell him hi for me, and that I expect a free boba next time I visit the shop for my services rendered today.” 

Donghyuck swats at the air in front of Jeno in a shoo-ing motion. “Yeah, whatever,” he stage whispers, “go away now.” He calls out again after Jeno stands up on the other side of the window. “Hey, dude. Thanks for waking me, appreciate it. Have a good practice.”

Jeno pokes his head out one more time, briefly, to shoot a grin down at him. 

Donghyuck spends a moment taking in the sunrise slowly replacing the smattering of stars, observing how dark blue lightens into a gradient. There’s a nice fog rolling in over the early morning, birds crossing paths coming from all directions. Their chirps are loud but the noise doesn’t bother him, instead keeping him company amidst the stillness of the new day as Mark slumbers on. Sitting here, with Mark resting peacefully at his side, it feels a little like handmade heaven.

A big, deep breath of fresh air later, he turns his attention towards his sleeping bastard. He holds on tight to Mark’s bicep, leans in close to his ear, and loudly proclaims, “Rise and shine!”

Mark jerks up and nearly slides down the roof, one hand scrabbling to hold onto the tile as his other arm tenses in Donghyuck’s grip. Once he secures his position and realizes where he is, he groans and his head drops back down to the rough shingles with a dull thud.

“I can’t believe I forget, every single time, how much it hurts to sleep on top of a roof. Duckie, I’m gonna bruise again.”

Donghyuck smiles innocently. “I slept just fine, though?”

“That’s because you were lying on my chest the whole time, parasite.”

He laughs and rolls his eyes. “Lies! You were all over me when I woke up. But fine, next time, you sleep on my chest from the start then.”

“Bet I won’t,” Mark grumbles, but there’s no real annoyance in his tone.

They’ve been doing these rooftop sleepovers for years, even before they got together in the middle of high school. Donghyuck wonders if either of their parents would even mind their sleepovers anymore. Maybe they just like to sneak around for old time’s sake.

The color of the sky above them softens to a shade distinguishable from the darkness of the gently swaying trees. As Mark rubs the sleep out of his eyes, Jeno appears in Donghyuck’s field of vision again, this time on the ground. He’s dressed in a tracksuit, car keys swinging around his index finger.

Donghyuck watches as he stops in his stride to pick up Mark’s bike and wheel it to the side of the house, out of sight of anyone in the driveway. They make eye contact once he emerges again.

Donghyuck raises his arms over his head to form a big heart and Jeno responds with a wry smile and a middle finger. He returns Mark’s wave and hops into his jeep. It rumbles down the road moments later, headlights cutting through the mist.

Mark heads in first to brush his teeth in Donghyuck and Jeno’s bathroom. Perks of being two boys tasked to clean up their bathroom by themselves is that their parents never step into it and, thus, the third toothbrush in the holder stays there permanently, presence unquestioned. 

Donghyuck checks his phone as he waits for Mark to finish up. There’s a message from Renjun from about twenty minutes ago asking if he wants to meet at the skate park with the whole crew later. Of course Renjun’s already up, annoying early riser that he is. Donghyuck taps out a response saying he and Mark will probably make an appearance at some point in the day.

Mark reappears a moment later, head narrowly missing the window frame. Donghyuck looks up with a quirk of his mouth. “All done?”

“Yeah. You want to go get breakfast? Hash browns would, like, slap right now.”

Donghyuck laughs and gestures for Mark to get closer. Once he’s within reach, he pulls him down to smack a big kiss against his morning stubble. “Yeah, I’m down. Give me...fifteen to get ready? Go take a few laps around the neighborhood and then come back so it looks like you’re picking me up.”

Mark rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. Hurry up, Duckie!” With that, he carefully pulls himself back onto the branch to begin the slow journey back down the tree.

Donghyuck watches to make sure that he doesn’t fall or hit himself with a branch before clambering back inside with the pile of pillows and blankets, feet landing lightly on the plush carpet of his room. Mark seems to have shut off his room light on the way back from the bathroom.

He heads out the door and down the hallway to toss his dirty bedding into the hamper in the laundry room. He’s halfway back to his room when he gets caught.

“Hyuckie?”

“Yeah, Ma?”

“Oh, so you are up. I thought I was hearing things. I’m going to work now, but why don’t you make breakfast for yourself and Sungie? I’m sure there’s something you can make in the fridge.” He clears his throat and responds that Mark is coming to pick him up soon.

She looks up, distractedly, from where she’d been putting on earrings in the hallway mirror. “Oh, okay. Well, bring back something for your brother, then. Or, better yet, take him with! He needs to get out of the house more.”

Donghyuck nods along dutifully as she bustles out the door, pantsuit swishing in her wake.

The doorbell rings minutes later. Mark is standing on his porch, rubbing at his cheek, when Donghyuck opens it. “Your mom saw me riding up and gave me twenty bucks to get something for Sung at the diner. Dude, she pinched my cheek really hard! Like, it kinda hurts.”

Donghyuck cackles and gestures for Mark to come inside and make himself at home while he fetches Jisung. He leaves him in the kitchen to make himself coffee while he runs into Jisung’s room and flops down on top of the lump on the bed.

There’s a groan from underneath the pile of blankets and a hand reaches out lazily to smack him in the head. “Jisung, come get breakfast with me and Mark.” The hand yanks his blanket out from under Donghyuck, rolling over to the other side. 

“I don’t want to see your weird-ass flirting over my waffles. Pass. Go away.” 

And yet, there Mark and Donghyuck stand, fifteen minutes later at the garage entrance, waiting for Jisung to finish washing up. Donghyuck leans back against Mark’s chest, who in turn leans against the workshop table, as they mindlessly watch dog videos.

Jisung tugs his beanie down over his eyes and groans when he walks out the door and sees Mark’s bike. “Dude, I thought you brought your car over. We’re biking?”

A sheepish smile appears on Mark’s face. “Ah, right, you don’t ride bikes. You can..hop on the back of mine?”

Donghyuck laughs from the back of the garage where he’s wheeling out his own bike. “Sorry, Sung, Mark’s car starts up too loud to be able to drive it over in the middle of the night. Too conspicuous too.”

“Didn’t know you knew what conspicuous meant, Hyuck.”

Donghyuck has to stop himself from lunging at Jisung. Brat.

Jisung thumbs at the handle of Donghyuck’s bike. “Actually, I learned how to ride a bike a few months ago. Over spring break. Renjun taught me.”

Donghyuck’s head snaps up to face him. “Renjun? What do you mean Renjun taught you? My Renjun?”

Jisung aims a scowl at him. “What do you mean, your Renjun? Yes, Renjun. He came over while you were gone camping.” A blush rises on his cheeks, spreads down his neck.

Oh. Donghyuck sees. Donghyuck sees very well.

He has the decency to turn away from Jisung before he lets a smirk burst across his face. Shit, he was so going to bring this mysterious hangout up to Renjun when he saw him later.

“Okay,” he declares after sharing an amused look with Mark, “let’s see what Teacher Junnie taught you then.” He tosses a panicked Jisung his helmet and walks towards Mark, holding onto his shoulders as he maneuvers a leg over the bike to secure his feet on top of the wheel pegs.

They wait for Jisung to take off down the street first. He’s a little wobbly at first but he straightens out eventually, seeming to manage. Donghyuck smiles in a small burst of pride and squeezes Mark’s shoulders to get him to follow, a light breeze shaping over his skin as they ride through the rapidly humidifying summer air.

Riding on the back of Mark’s bike brings forth a sense of nostalgia from years ago, back when he would wait by the window in his living room, looking out for Mark to speed past. When he saw him, he’d run out the door without even tying his shoelaces in his excitement to join him, barely managing a quick goodbye to his parents.

Sometimes, Fate took it upon herself to lead him to Mark when he needed to see him most, and sometimes Donghyuck managed that just fine on his own.

**Author's Note:**

> come talk to me!
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/prive_bbh) \+ [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/bolobao)


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